Live from the third floor……

Fighting and bickering.

Just a normal day.

I wish that the discourse

had more civility.

But she does not hear that,

and he will not listen.

Name calling and eye rolls

all part of the norm.

In a relationship that cannot work within forum.

Jockeying for position and trying to gain

rarely, if ever, does either abstain.

When it reaches the low point

and can’t go any deeper.

That’s when he comes out – the nasty grim reaper.

To harvest the failures and put to bed hope.

Allowing those two fighters to tie their own rope.

To announce all the nasty and bring the demise

of a people that can’t seem to open their eyes.

The hatred, bitterness and clinging to pain,

the envy, betrayal and infidelity.

It’s not marriage I speak of, so please do not stress,

instead I refer to your elected congress.

community, relationships, authentic friends 

tough to find, hard to come by, often need bends 

the flexibility, adjustments, tweaks, apologies 

are what keep them going, make them healthy 

why is it so hard to stop, think and see

when a friendship is falling apart at the seams

lack of caring or concern, no, I think not 

i’ve come to think that it’s more like a spot

a place in life where we land – make a decision 

that we don’t have time to bridge the division

or maybe we just aren’t ready to see

that the problems surfacing may center on “me 

i am not ready to stop and make changes

instead i’ll go out and find friends for new ages

the people of current know my past history

it will all be much better when i try and break free

from the chains of knowing and familiarity

and work to develop a new identity

but that thinking is flawed, unnatural and sick

we are made to go deeper, for support and for love

inventing a new us that is nothing but fickle

adjust to the moments that hover above

reach out, dig deep, work to bridge those gaps

we weren’t created to fall into those traps.

Ikea furniture, you’re such a tease.

We get so excited, we fall to our knees.

When we finally decide that it’s time to buy,

we drive to your store and we let out a sigh.

All of the choices and many, so cool.

“Who would pay more? Only a fool!”

That’s what we say while we load up our cart.

We drive home and laugh ‘cuz we think we’re so smart.

But when we get home, the excitement wears off,

the joke turns around and laughs while we scoff.

You see, as quickly as our joy came,

the anger and bickering begins just the same.

“I know how to read this,” she will declare.

“Just give me the allen wrench, Lori my dear.”

“Did you count the bolts Matt, why won’t you listen?”

“How ’bout I trash this stuff,” I say as I glisten.

The dry sweat beads begin to form on my head,

I immediately regret the moment I said,

“Why don’t we get a new couch or a table.”

For here we now stand and we’re simply not able.

On and on it goes until something looks wonky.

That one goes in the corner so it doesn’t look funky

while it sits in the living room, still kinda cool.

But not like at Ikea when it caused us to drool.

Authority. We want it, right? It’s at the very fabric of our DNA. We want to have authority over something, someone. We strive for the respect that is derived from being in an authoritative role. Part of the great chase that exists in culture today centers on our drive to reach a level of accomplishment that brings about respect, wealth and authority.

Think about it. If you were going to see a physician about a condition that had been hampering you for weeks, you’d look for a leading authority on the condition to improve your chances of being healed.

In the military, officers rise up to an authoritative level in order to lead their men. Imagine a military where there is no commander, no figure appointed to head things up with authority. It would look like the Iraqi Elite Forces during the Gulf War.

Let’s bring this closer to home. Are you a parent? Parents immediately inherit a level of authority as they raise their children. They spend years teaching their child to respect authority, to listen to it, to obey it (many times to a fault). But how many relationships have had at least one heated discussion centered on one parent contradicting the other, thereby eroding the authoritative role that had been worked on and developed for days, weeks, months or even years?

Now, go to work. You’re boss sends you to a meeting to represent your area, division or operations group. The meeting is full of tension, with ownership and action items floating back and forth between groups. You leave the meeting feeling that you gained a tremendous amount of respect and forthcoming kudos for how you stood firm and took what was beneficial while pushing away things that your team didn’t want to own.

Crash! You find out the next day that your manager undid all that you fought for. You’re called into the office and told that you didn’t have the authority to make those decisions and that you were out of line. You walk out of the office feeling that you just have to do as you’re told because you don’t have the authority, or the trust or the tools to represent your team.

Uh-oh. Is that how you feel when you try to talk about Jesus?

The “Great Commission” is found in Matthew. In the scriptures we usually read (Matthew 28:19-20), Jesus tells his disciples to “…go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” It’s the whole Go On Out There and Tell People About Me bit that you’ve been quoted too many times to remember.

I think that is awesome. Unfortunately, I don’t think we pay enough attention to the verse that precedes it. Matthew 28:18 reads: “Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.”

Why do I think that verse is so important? Because in it, Jesus gives the disciples the authority to go out there and talk to people. To talk to them. To pray with them. To counsel them. To cry with them. To love them. To not doubt what they can do.

Jesus gave them authority, straight from God himself, to love people.

So where did we miss that part? We like to talk about going out and making disciples. But many times when we get the chance, when the moment is right, we shy away. We walk away. “I’m not the one for that job,” is often the line that we use. Or “I don’t know how to handle that one.” Or “That is a big problem and I am so inexperienced.”

But what I love about it is that verse 18 is telling us (and telling the disciples at the time who were full of doubt) that we have the authority to do it because God gave it to us. It’s not coming in our own power or approach. It is divine. It is God-inspired. It is truth. And we have to be able to trust and know that with the authority comes the blessing of the words that spill forth from our mouth.

We can’t mess it up. No matter what we do, God is behind it and his backing is there. He’s not the boss who won’t have your back. He’s not the parent that changes the pre-established rules of the family. He is not a double-crosser. If Jesus Christ Himself tells you that He is giving you the authority to represent Him in loving on and changing people’s lives, then I encourage you to let that soak in.

You cannot fail when you’re granted the full authority of Christ. Did you read that? Do you believe that? Just go for it, God will do the rest.

So no matter your past, your experiences, your failures, your fear, your pre-conceived notions about Jesus. No matter your human weakness, your human condition, your human vision for the future or your finite human view – what you say and do for Jesus is powerful, redeeming and will work for good.

He promised it. So before you go to the nations. Before you go to school. Before you go to work. Before you go to get coffee. Before you go to your kid’s practice. Before, before, before.

Know that he has gone before you. The words that come out of your mouth are blessed. The words that come from your lips are anointed. The message that you share from your heart cannot fail because God has authorized them.

It’s true, it happened. One day I lost it.

Not that I lost it in the physical sense,

rather,

I let the battery die on it.

Somewhere over Colorado I suspect.

Two hours plus remaining on that particular flight.

I don’t know what I was thinking the night before.

I always charge it. Always keep it ready.

But it happened, I can’t deny it.

Maybe it doesn’t mean much to you.

A first world problem, you might call it.

But when your iPod dies at 35K feet,

there’s not much left to do but sit with your own thoughts.

And alone with my thoughts, is a scary place to be.

Don’t cry for me blog reader, isn’t that how the song goes?

For I am nothing if not a man with a contingency plan.

Into my bag I went and pulled out my Kindle.

I powered it on and settled back in,

a confident smirk back on my travel-weary face.

What?!?! From black font to blank screen?

Yes it is true, it happened again.

My electronic device had powered down.

I don’t know what you’d call it, the worst thing in the world?

Fine, fair enough, not quite that bad.

But alone over Utah is a terrible place.

So take heed my readers and avoid this event.

Charge up your products, prepare for your trip.

For I once knew a man where something bad happened.

His tech world stopped working and he was forced to just think.

And before he knew it, he decided to buy a new house.

If you have an issue with the fact that this freeform poem doesn’t rhyme, check yourself. Or, check out this highly respectable link: http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Does_a_poem_need_to_rhyme

It’s the expectation
Existing with a demonstration
That I’ll receive confirmation
If I change my identification

Adjust the fabric of my being
To meet the standard of the fleeting
Moments that the flesh is chasing
But giving to internal dying

I reject this theory of success
Where I must pass a test
Just to be blessed
By the populace

I’ll stand firm in my identity
Fight against conformity
Push back on idolatry
To claim, in the end, eternal victory

This is a forced poem

To count as one day

My morning was hectic

And so was my night

Busy but worth it

I got a lot done

Including some memories

With the important ones

***this poem was written in a sleeping bag on a church floor***

So you have a small missile

But you’re not s’posed to use it

You can close a border and not allow exit

How can the whole world think that you’re mad

When what you are doing is acting like dad

First missile test was a bit of a dud

The next one got up but fell short with a thud

Now you claim that you’ll blow up Guam

‘Cuz with your new Lego set you built a bomb

But they laugh and they jest while you eat your pie

And now you can do nothing but sit idly by

As some unknown group takes over your handle

And starts using your Tweets to stir up a scandal

Japan, South Korea, even the Chinese

Have a feeling that you’ll fall, weak at the knees

The mighty U.S. is gaining a stronghold

Exercising their forces in a move so bold

So, what to do now?

Pull up Netflix, play XBox or go to a rave

What would your dad do, he’d probably cave

He did after all, for the last 18 years

Don’t take it personal, you’d end up in tears

It is kind of cute really, like father like son

The supreme ruler of North Korea, Kim Jong-un.

Why does it happen? Almost always to me?

When I’m in a hurry and they step up front.

As I stand there in shock and I let out a grunt,

they search for a checkbook in the great big purse hunt.

All I have is milk and bread I want to cry out,

while they’re asking the checker for a pen – I just pout.

A scene at the grocer, I’m sure you’ve witnessed it too.

But how ’bout at Starbucks when you want a quick brew?

The guy in the front of me; he needs it just right.

With “soy milk, no whip, and please make the cream light.”

The barista writes slowly on the little white cup.

Are they writing the order: no, I think not.

In slow motion it appears they’re beginning to jot:

“Too bad for you pal – your schedule is shot.”

To depart the line at this point would be shameful.

My Coffee! A day without it is pure self-betrayal.

What could be worse, you may ask?

How about a station where you’re buying your gas.

The credit card reader is down at the pump,

so you’re forced to go in with a heart full of grump.

And what is there waiting as you just need to pay?

Some guy who is playing his state’s lottery.

You’ve seen it, I know it, he utters his plan:

“Eight, uh, twenty-two, sixteen, eighty-eight and, uh, seven.”

C’mon, you scream inside, hurry up with this waste!

I’ve got to get home and I must move with haste.

If I’m late for this thing with my family I’m finished.

And I promise you dude, that you’re not gonna win it.

So this poem is nothing but a simple request:

Lose your checkbook, drink plain coffee, keep the cash in a chest.

Those things you keep doing just give me more stress!